Many inflatable products have a desired range for operating pressures, where the product is designed to perform optimally when pressurized within the desired range. Outside of these desired pressure ranges, the products may not perform at their highest level and may even become dangerous. Some inflatable products have been designed with built-in pressure gauges, which monitor the operating pressure of the device and provide some notification of the pressure to the user of the device. This notification may be in the form of a mechanical dial, electronic display, or some other form of mechanical notification such as a piston.
With tires for example, pressurizing within the desired operating pressure range can be very important. The performance and usable life of the tire as well as gas mileage may be significantly impacted. For off-road tires as well as tires which are used in the agriculture industry (‘agriculture tires’), the pressurization may become even more important. Over inflation of off-road or agricultural tires may cause: loss of traction, excessive soil compaction, fast wear, higher fuel consumption, fewer acres tilled per day, and a harsh ride. Further, under inflation of off-road or agricultural tires may cause: sidewall damage, a poor ride, bead un-seating, and fast wear. Thus, for optimum performance, it is desired to maintain the desired pressure ranges for tires, and any other inflatable products.
However, many agriculture tires, as well as other inflatable products require relatively low operating pressures (ex. 15 PSI) but are frequently inflated with compressors which inject air at a much higher pressure (ex. 90-175 PSI). If a gauge is used to monitor the pressure of the tire, this gauge is typically designed to handle the low operating pressure of the tire and not the high pressure of the compressor. Exposing the low-pressure gauge to the high-pressure incoming air can result in damage to the low-pressure gauge.